Member Spotlight: Denise Justice, OTRL, FMiOTA, FAOTA, BCP
Denise Justice is a senior Occupational Therapist and a clinic manager at Michigan Medicine. She earned an associate degree in occupational therapy from Schoolcraft College in 1988 before completing her bachelor’s degree at Eastern Michigan University in 1992.
After completing her fieldwork in pediatric and adult rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, she joined the institution in 1992 and has been with Michigan Medicine focusing primarily on pediatrics throughout her career especially on Brachial Plexus palsy.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, staying active by walking, biking, golfing, traveling, and attending sporting events.
Since 2005, she has played a key role in developing its brachial plexus program at Michigan Medicine, expanding its clinical scope from pediatric neonatal brachial plexus palsy to adults presenting with brachial plexus palsy and peripheral nerve injuries. Her research contributions include creating a professionally produced range-of-motion video for patient families, which evolved from DVD to an online platform with embedded video and audio. These were developed after findings revealed that families strongly prefer video instruction over written materials and experience the most difficulty performing shoulder exercises accurately. Her additional research on shoulder integrity established that full range-of-motion exercises do not increase shoulder subluxation prevalence and that initiating therapy within the first month improves long-term range of motion and functional arm use.
She has authored several books including Secrets of Life with Brachial Plexus and an hand illustrated book titled " The ABC’s of the Brachial Plexus”
Denise has been involved with MiOTA since approximately 2009, contributing her time and expertise to support the profession and its members. She served as Finance Director before moving into the Conference Planning Committee, where she continues to contribute to MiOTA’s educational and professional programming. She has been spearheading MiOTA’s Annual conferences for 20 years.
She is especially looking forward to the upcoming MiOTA Conference at the Bavarian Inn, October 1–3, 2026 with the theme being "Setting the Standard, Following the Stars.", including the keynote honoring Fred Sammons and Barbara Ryder, two individuals whose contributions have left a lasting mark on occupational therapy.
For Denise, MiOTA represents much more than an annual conference. She identifies collegiality, community, continuing education, networking, and professional advocacy for OT practice, licensure, and reimbursement as some of the key benefits of membership and opportunities for occupational therapists to connect, learn, and strengthen the profession together.
In 2018, Denise received the Roster of Fellows award from Michigan Occupational Therapy Association and in 2022 she received the Roster of Fellows from the American Occupational Therapy Association for her contributions to the profession of Occupational Therapy.
If you would like to be highlighted or would like to nominate a MiOTA member, please email us at website@miota.org. (Attn: Renuka ‘Ray’ Roche)